This invention relates to the art of chute systems and, more particularly, to an automatic chute door integrated into a chute system.
Chute systems are commonly used to provide a convenient way of storing or disposing of various articles. Chute systems are used in medical facilities for the disposal of various types of medical products. Chute systems are also used in apartment buildings and various industries for the disposal of refuse. Chute systems are also used in homes, hotels and hospitals to store linens for later cleaning. Chute systems can further be used to separate and/or store recyclable items.
A typical chute system includes a chute and a storage bin. The articles are placed in the chute opening and the chute guides the articles to the storage bin for immediate or later processing. If the chute system is for waste insertion, the storage bin is typically a furnace and the articles placed in the chute are immediately processed upon entering the furnace. The chute opening can include a chute door to close the chute opening until just prior to an article being placed into the chute opening. The chute door enhances the safety and sanitation of the chute system. Medical products which are disposed in a chute system can pose potential health and/or safety risks if a chute door is not included on the chute opening. An unclosed chute opening could allow harmful and/or contaminated products to harm an individual who inadvertently comes in contact with the chute opening without proper protection. The incorporation of a chute in such facilities reduces such risks. Furthermore, chute systems used to dispose of waste are prone to fires and/or small explosions occurring in the storage bin. Such fires or explosions could cause damage to areas outside of the chute opening if a chute door is not used. The use of a chute door also reduces and/or prevents gases and/or fine particles in the chute and storage bin from escaping through the chute opening, especially where such gases and/or particles are noxious, harmful and/or infectious. Furthermore, chute doors are used to prevent children from injury due to climbing in and playing around a chute opening.
Although past chute systems have commonly employed chute doors, these prior chute door's designs have proven to be, in many cases, safety risks in-of-themselves. Many of the chute doors used in the disposal of refuse are not fire rated to resist exposure to a fire or made durable enough to withstand an explosion in the storage bin. As a result, damage to facilities outside the chute opening are not always avoided in the case of fire. Further, small explosions in the storage bin result in the chute door being inoperably damaged and/or destroyed. Furthermore, chute doors that have been designed to be fire resistant and/or explosion resistant have not been designed to properly seal the closure opening from releasing flames caused by a fire and/or from releasing gases various chemicals within the storage bin. In addition, prior chute doors typically do not include a latch mechanism to secure the chute door from being jarred open when an explosion occurs in the chute or storage bin. Chute doors which have included latch mechanisms have suffered from complicated designs and/or unreliable latching of the chute door. As a result, the chute door remains unsecure thus not providing the proper security the chute door was originally designed for.
In view of the past design and safety deficiencies of prior chute closures, there is a need to provide a chute door which is easily operable and ensures a secure closure to prevent the chute door from inadvertently opening due to a fire and/or explosion in the storage bin and further seal the chute opening from releasing flames and/or gases when the chute door is in the closed position.